For me, this assignment became a lesson in privilege. It is all too easy for me to slip into a pedantic, self-serving mindset when I am so isolated from the outside world. This isolation is not simply due to the “Willamette bubble” but my quality of life in general. These three images or examples of things I feel I take for granted. These are things that in my everyday life seem so engrained and rudimentary that I am cannot imagine a life without them, though for many that image is a reality. My attempt to capture how I am influenced by social and economic class, race, gender, sexual orientation, age, physical ability, etc. became a realization of the enormous amount of privilege I have, on all those fronts.
The photo of the Willamette campus is intended to show the financial privilege I have by being able to attend a private university. I am fortunate enough to be able to go to an (expensive) private school that is out of reach for many students who are just as qualified as I am. I am fortunate to be able to go to college in the first place and not have to work right out high school. I often take this privilege for granted, but the reality is that many other people my age are financially unable to received higher education. As a kid, and even now at Willamette I never really felt “wealthy” because I was surrounded by people with the same financial means as me. Iphones, laptops, and Northface jackets are simply the norm here even though only a few block in any direction people live in drastically different circumstances.
The photo of grapefruits is intended to show the privilege of food choice. First of all, the fact that I have access to enough food at all is privilege in and of itself. I rarely consider the millions of people starving in other countries and even in America when I eat or buy groceries. It is almost hard to fathom how others can have so little when we are simply accustomed to such extravagant excess. Access to food itself is a privilege, but being able to choose healthy, fresh, organic food is even more of a privilege. When I buy groceries honestly price is less of a factor in my choices than an organic label. I am able to choose healthy food, in terms of calories and pesticides, even though it is significantly more expensive. It is easy for me to forget the role of privilege when eating my organic grapefruit, and drinking my organic, cane sweetened, all natural, non-GMO soymilk. I forget that I am uniquely privileged in my ability to control what foods I put into my body. I am able to worry less about the cost of food and more about the content.
The third picture is intended to show the privilege of heterosexuality. As a heterosexual person I don’t have to worry about being judged simply because of the person I am with. I am not stereotyped based on my sexual orientation or victimized because of the ignorance of others. I can go places in public with a significant other and not have to worry about the reactions of those around me. I do not have to feel like I am representing my sexual orientation in my interactions. The government never debates upon my right to marriage, adoption, or the legal rights with a partner, and I have never seen a group of fanatic lunatics holding signs that say “God hates heterosexuals”.
My life is filled with privileges, not just in the University I attend, the food I eat, and my sexual orientation, but in nearly every facet of my life. It is easy to ignore these abundant privileges and take a pedantic view on the world around us. I think it is increasingly important to learn how to accept these privileges as what they are, and find a way to use these privileges to alleviate the oppression of others. In terms of how to do this: I have no idea what so ever, but I hope to figure that out.
